Effects of Atmospheric Turbulence on SAR Performance.
Abstract
A study was carried out to assess the effects of atmospheric turbulence upon synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery. A model, based upon turbulence theory, was developed to predict the expected SAR impulse response as a function of a parameter denoted the SAR atmospheric phase error coefficient, K sub phi. This coefficient may be calculated from measured index of refraction profiles and radar geometry. The expected SAR responses was evaluated as a function of the coefficient K sub phi for four separate radar image processor configurations; unweighted aperture, unweighted corrected focus aperture, cosine squared weighted aperture, and 30 dB Taylor weighted aperture.9 Results are presented in the report. The measurements indicate that atmospheric turbulence is not expected to seriously degrade the performance of currently operational systems or those operating at significantly longer ranges or finer resolutions. The measurements were limited in time, quantity, climatic conditions, and geographic locations. Extensive quantitative results will depend upon further experimental measurements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA057980
Entities
People
- J. Auterman
- L. Garry Adams
- R. Crane
Organizations
- Environmental Research Institute of Michigan